“The Heifetz of the English horn” has died. Thomas Stacy was a member of the New York Philharmonic from 1972 to 2011. He was a featured soloist with the orchestra more than 70 times. He also appeared as guest soloist with many other ensembles.
More than 30 new works were written specifically for him. He was the most-recorded English hornist in the world. In 2005, he was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist for his recording of Kenneth Fuchs’ Concerto for English Horn, “Eventide.”
Stacy was also a virtuoso on the oboe d’amore. His final performances as a soloist with the Philharmonic were during the orchestra’s 2008-09 season, in an oboe d’amore concerto by Georg Philipp Telemann.
Growing up in Augusta, Arkansas – population 3000 – he listened to the New York Philharmonic Sunday afternoon radio broadcasts with his mother, a church organist. He sold his motorcycle in junior high school to buy his first English horn.
Leonard Bernstein characterized Stacy as “a poet among craftsmen.” Stacy died on April 30. He was 84 years-old.
Sibelius, “The Swan of Tuonela”
Copland, “Quiet City”
Dvorak, “New World” Symphony (video)
Kenneth Fuchs, “Eventide”
